Milk withdrawal device for continuous milking systems



R. E. REEVE May 14, 1957 MILK WITHDRAWAL DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS MILKINGSYSTEMS Filed Jan. 18, 1954 I10 VOL-T5 INVENTOR .Qoberl E Reeve AMILKWITHDRAWAL DEVICE FOR CONTINU- US MILKING SYSTEMS Robert'EIReevepTracy," Calif.

. Applicatiort January 18,;1954, SerialNo. 404,442

'1 Claim. 1(Cl;'103'4) Th present invention relates generallytodairyqquip ment, and j particularly to improvements in a- 'vacuumactuated, continuous type; milking system; which includes a milkdelivery pipeleading from adjacent the-milking stations .to. a centralreceiving point; the 1atter-usually being in a separate enclosure.

The "milk delivery ,pipe, maintained under-vacuum, receives the milkfrom the several teat cups units; and'-de' "livers it in the directionof. a vacuum,'pumpwhich is connected incommuni-cation with aremote endofsuch pipe. 'In such.a" system. it is. requisite that a deviee beprovided to withdraw the milkfrom suchmilk delivery pipebefore the .milkreaches the vacuum pump, butwhich .withdrawal must be accomplished.withoutbreaking the vacuum in the milk delivery pipe.

.i 'It'. is therefore the major object of'the present invention to;provide a nov'elrnilk withdrawal"devicejfor'the purpose described above,.which is of novel constructiorrand pipe and the. vacuum pump conduit;the connections being such that the milkdelivers' from-such'pipe'intothe tank without possibility of the milk gaining entryinto the vacuum pump conduit,- andthere being a milk-pump connected to.the bottomofthe tank adapted-"toirecur- 'rin'gly pump. a, quantity: ofmilk out; of; the tank-:without breaking the vacuum in the latter.

An additional. obje'ct ;of;the invention-is to provide a milkwitlidrawaldevice, as in the precedingparagraph,

wherein novel float actuated switch meansisprovided in associatiomwiththe tank and arranged to cause actuation of the. milk pump whenever themilk in the tank reaches a predetermined level.

1A;further object of the invention :is .to provideta milktwithdrawalzdevice.whereinthe tankdncludes initially sepa- -ratetcoverenclosure parts at thettop, andasuchgparts being held; in place by thevacuum-within thetankg eficctive seals being provided.betweensuch partsin order to prevent air entry into'the tank, with resultant vacuum loss.

It is also an object of the invention to-provide atmilk withdrawaldevice, for the purpose described, which is designed for ease andeconomy of manufacture, installation, and operation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a milk withdrawaldevice which is practical, reliable, and durable; yet exceedinglyeffective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation, mainly in section, of the milk withdrawaldevice.

n t States Patent .and thence such pipe leads to' the milk withdrawaldevice 'ice Fig.2 is a diagrammatic elevation ofthe. same includingReferring now more, particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, .the novel, milk withdrawal device comprises a verticallyelongated, cylindrical-milk receiving tank 1 provided-on oppositesides-with laterally outwardly projecting brackets 2 which restontransversely spaced frame supports or stringers 3.

'The' bottom-'4 of the tank is dished or funnel-shaped, and at 'thecenter connects with one end of a milk withdrawal pipe 5 which has acheck valve 6 interposed therein; the other or outer end of the milkwithdrawal pipe 5 beingconnected to a milk pump '7 whose discharge 8ffeeds to'the milkprocessingequipment (not shown) in the dairy.

The milk pump 7 is driven by an electric motor 9 .whose energizing.circuitis shown at 510, and which is controlled in, the manner as will.subsequently appear.

At the top the tank. 1 is formed with an initially open, relatively wideannular mouth 11 which is normally closed [by a'circularcoverjdiscorplate. 12; there being an an- "nular, seal 13 between the mouth-11 andthe Peripheral portion of'the cover plate 12. ...Such ,cover plate'12also includes a; depending annular'flange' 14'which extends into themouth.11 whereby to locate "the: cover plate: 12 on 'thegtankz.

The milk'delivery pipe of a continuous milking system :is indicatedatlS;such pipe being connected, adjacent which-is the subject of the presentinvention.

At the milk withdrawal device, the milk delivery pipe 15'is. formed witha down-turned or depending leg 16 which extends into the tank 1 from thetop and to one side of the mouth 11,and cover plate 12. The depending Ilegg16, is of such length that it extendsinto said tank 1 to atermination a substantial distance below the top of '"the tank 'butabovethe bottom. (At' its lower end the dependingpleg 16 is turned laterallyoutwardly, as at. 17, whereby to -discharge against the adjacent wall ofthe ;tank1,,,and which is for'the purpose of minimizing turibjulence orsplatterv of the milk in said tank.

A, horizontal, vacuum conduit '18 enters the .tankjl on the 'side,opposite the depending leg 16 of themilk' delivery pipe, and at apointiimmediately adjacent the top of such tank.

Exteriorlyof the tank. 1 the conduit18 connectsgto a vacuumpump 19driven by an electric motorZO energized 50" switch 22 interposedtherein.

through they medium of a circuit-21 having acontrol When themilkwi-thdrawal device is in operation the tank 1 ismaintained undervacuum by the Pump; 10,, and

milk from .;the delivery pipe 15 discharges relatively continuously'intosaid tank fromthedischarge end 17 of the leg 16 of saidpipe 15. Astheinner ends ofthe dependingilegj16 and the vacuum,conduit18 are onopposite sides of the tank. 1 and at vertically spaced points, milkwhichfeeds from the lateral discharge; end 17 cannot gain access intothe vacuum conduit 18; which would be highly undesirable. Additionally,the quantity of milk M delivered into the tank 1 is prevented againstrising above a predetermined level in such tank, and which level isconsiderably below the vacuum conduit 18; this being accomplished byrecurrently operating the milk pump 7 to withdraw milk from the tank 1,feeding such milk through the discharge pipe 8.

The check valve 6 opens whenever the milk pump 7 is in operation, butautomatically closes to prevent backflowing of milk or air into the tank1 when the pump 7 is out of operation.

The following switch means responsive to the level 3 of the milk M intank 1, is employed in connection with the energizing circuit 10, andfor the purpose of controlling the electric motor 9 which drives themilk pump 7:

A float 23 is carried in the tank 1. within an open guide cage 24 whichis secured to and depends from the cover plate 12; such float moving upor down with rise or fall of the level of the milk M in tank 1.

The float 23 is secured to the lower end of an upwardly projecting orvertical rod 25 which passes through a hole 26 in the cover plate 12;the rod extending some distance above said cover plate and passingthrough an eye 27 on the end of a vertically movable switch control arm28 which projects laterally outwardly from a switch unit 29 supported ona pedestal 30 fixed to the top of the cover plate 12.

Vertically spaced collars 31 are adjustably secured to the upper endportion of the rod 25, one collar being above and the other collar beingbelow the eye 27 on the switch control arm 28. The switch within theunit 29 is shown, diagrammatically at 32 in Fig. 2; such switchpreferably being of mercury type.

The collars 31 are set on the rod 25, so that when the milk M raises toa predetermined level in the tank 1, with resultant upward travel of thefloat 23 and rod 25, the lowermost collar 31 engages the eye 27 andswings the switch control arm 28 upwardly. This closes the switch 32,whereupon the circuit It) energizes the motor 9 which drives the milkpump 7; milk thence being pumped out of the tank through the pipe 8.

After a quantity of the milk has thus been pumped from the tank 1,resultant lowering of the float 23 and rod 25 causes the uppermostcollar 31 to engage the eye 27, swinging the switch control arm 28downwardly, opening the switch 32, whereupon the circuit is deenergized,stopping the electric motor 9 and milk pump 7.

Thus, with the described milk level responsive switch control mechanism,the milk M in tank 1 is always maintained between a predeterminedmaximum and minimum level; the maximum level being below the vacuumconduit 18, and the minimum level being a distance above the bottom ofthe tank. As a consequence, the tank 1 is always maintained under vacuumby the vacuum pump 19, which vacuum also persists in the milk deliverypipe during operation of the continuous milking system.

In order to prevent opening of the tank 1 to atmosphere by reason of thehole 26 through which the rod works, the switch mechanism atop the coverplate 12 is confined within an air-tight bonnet assembly, indicatedgenerally at 33, and which is constructed as follows:

An annular upstanding neck 34 is formed on the cover plate 12 insurrounding relation to the rod 25 and pedestal such neckincluding-about its periphery an upwardly and inwardly curved annularflange 35. The switch unit 29 and the adjacent portion of the rod 25 aresurrounded by a bonnet 36 which is formed, at its open lower end, withan outwardly and downwardly curved, annular flange 37 disposed incooperative relation to the flange there being an annular seal 38between said flanges 37 and 35.

The vacuum existent within the tank 1 also exists within the bonnetassembly 33 by reason of the intercommunicating hole 26; the resultbeing that the bonnet 36 is suctionally maintained in place on the neck34, and

4 in turn the cover plate 12 is similarly maintained in closed relationto the mouth 11. However, when the device is out of operation, with novacuum in the tank 1, the bonnet 36, as well as the cover plate 12, canbe readily removed for servicing of the mechanism, cleansing of thetank, etc.

Air-tight entry of the energizing circuit 10 into the bonnet assembly 33is accomplished by using insulated terminals 39 which extend through theneck 34 in spaced relation, one of said terminals being interposed ineach of the leads of circuit 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

With the described device, milk from the milk delivery pipe of acontinuous, vacuum actuated, milking system can be effectivelywithdrawn, without breaking the vacuum in the system, and in a mannerwhich assures against any of the milk gaining access to the vacuum pumpwith which the milk delivery pipe is connected in communication.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there hasbeen produced such a device as will substantially fulfill the objects ofthe invention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new anduseful, and upon which Letters Patent are desired:

In a continuous milking system which includes an upstanding tankinitially open on top and having milk delivery and discharge pipesconnected thereto in spaced relation, means to maintain the tank underconstant vacuum, a pump connected to the discharge pipe, a motor fordriving the pump, a circuit for the motor and including a switch, andmilk-level responsive means to open and close the switch and operativelyconnected thereto; means mounting the switch on the tank and comprisinga cover plate removably seated on and closing the open top of the tank,a pedestal on the cover plate on which the switch is supported, saidswitch opening and closing means including a rod depending from theswitch through a clearance opening in the cover plate and a float on thelower end of the rod; a continuous neck on and upstanding from the coverplate, the motor circuit comprising leads extending between the switchand motor and including air-tight insulated terminals in the neck, anair-tight bonnet over the switch removably seated on the neck, and sealsdisengageably disposed between the neck and bonnet and between the coverplate and tank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,518,890 Aikman Dec. 9, 1924 2,054,205 Palmer Sept. 15, 1936 2,496,467Griffith Feb. 7, 1950 2,725,850 Makous Dec. 6, 1955 OTHER REFERENCES DeLaval Combine Milking System (Model F), Nov. 14, 1950, (page 14).

